Malaysia round-up: Schumacher, Senna and more have their say
Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
In this weekend's paddock round-up, Bruno Senna praises Williams's revival, Red Bull boss Christian Horner rues his team's lack of qualifying pace and Kimi Raikkonen describes his fifth place as "OK".
Senna, competing in only his second grand prix with the team, rewarded Williams's improved pace this season by scoring their first points - eight of them, for a sixth-placed finish - a total that is more than Sir Frank Williams's team managed in the whole of 2011.
"When conditions are like this, it's a bit of a lottery," said Senna. "The team did a good job and the car was working so well with intermediates.
"I was able to adapt fast to the conditions but in the next races, I want to make it more easy to score points. I now need to work on my qualifying and dry pace."
Senna's team-mate Pastor Maldonado's bad luck continued, however, as his engine failed with two laps remaining.
"I had an engine problem but this is racing," he said. "It was a complicated race from the beginning for me. I tried to do my best. I was pushing so hard from the beginning just to get points.
"We need [a result] because the team is doing a very good job and the car is much better than last year."
Mark Webber moved above his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' standings for the first time since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2010 with fourth place.
"It was a busy race, a lot of calls going on on the restart," Webber said. "My inter stint was very different and I had a lot less confidence in the car.
"Once I put the dry tyres on, I was happier but it was too late by then. It was good to get some points on an easy day to come away with nothing."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was optimistic the team could get on top of their qualifying problems.
"I think we've got a good understanding over the last couple of weekends where we're strong and where we're not strong.
"We haven't quite been settled with our car yet, especially on a Saturday, and there are a few things we need to tidy up."
Kimi Raikkonen continued his strong start to the season with a fifth-place finish.
"I was a bit handicapped because I didn't know how the tyres would behave," said Raikkonen. "I only did one install lap on them before so it was tricky.
"I tried to stay on the road and push as much as I felt comfortable. I couldn't really see where the dry places were because my visor was so dirty so I had to take it easy.
"Fifth is OK but of course you're looking for better results."
Jean-Eric Vergne, one of two F1 rookies on the grid this year, scored his first points with a feisty drive to eighth in his Toro Rosso.
"It was really difficult, especially at the beginning of the race," he said. "I stayed out for a long time on the intermediates after the start and then the red flag came along to help me, so I was able to switch to extreme wets on the grid.
"After these two opening races, the overall performance has been quite good and I feel we can make progress in China starting from this good baseline."
Force India's Paul di Resta came seventh after coming out of a tough race in the midfield pack.
"It was a bit of a mess at the start as we all tried to stay on the track," said Di Resta. "Then Pastor Maldonado hit me and I lost three places.
"It was very wet after the red flag, but our performance showed that we are just not quite quick enough."
Di Resta's team-mate Nico Hulkenberg finished ninth to ensure the team were the only constructor to get both cars in the top 10.
"It was quite a complicated race and the rain certainly helped mix things up, but we made the most of our chances and made good calls on the strategy," said Hulkenberg.
"I have to say that the wet conditions today were some of the worst I've raced in and the visibility was almost zero before the race was stopped."
Michael Schumacher, who started third, came 10th after recovering from contact with Romain Grosjean on lap one.
"That's racing; it's a shame," said Schumacher. "I was hoping for a good result, and naturally you hope it works out for you.
"In wet conditions I can occasionally do reasonably well, but it was not the case today. At the start I couldn't see anything so I was lucky and happy to stay on the road.
"But after this we were not quick enough, although we started catching up near the end. We were just about there in the dry."
While Fernando Alonso secured Ferrari's first victory since the 2011 British Grand Prix, team-mate Felipe Massa had a tougher race, trailing home 15th.
"It was a difficult race for me," said Massa. "I made a mistake to do another pitstop. We were suffering with the tyres. That was the main issue for race."
